Tag: debt
Greek hospitals have been accused of threatening not to release babies after they're born, unless their parents pay the bill for the delivery. Others are accused of withholding birth certificates. All of this because the Greek budget crisis has eroded health insurance coverage and hospital budget cuts....
In Greece, the government is moving to another round of elections after the latest round produced no viable government. Meanwhile, economists are worried that the instability between now and then could cause economic havoc, not the least of which is Greeks who are pulling their savings out of Greek banks in fears that a default could cost them their life savings....
Detroit has been hit hard by the recession. Once known as the "Paris of the Midwest, Detroit is now the poorest major city in the United States. City officials are in the midst of numerous efforts to stave off bankruptcy, but they're struggling to keep residents happy.
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What is the great divide splitting America? Republican and Democrat? Male and female? Black and white? Esquire columnist Stephen Marche thinks there is a profound, and ever widening gap between young and old Americans.
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Across the European continent, there's a growing belief that austerity is killing those country's future, and it's growth, not spending cuts, that is needed to turn things around. But there's a tension between the need to balance the budget and the desire to grow....
Nicholas Sarkosy has a tough battle in front of him if he wants to remain in office when the second, runoff round of the presidential elections happens on May 6. His challenger, Francois Hollande, has promised to reverse some of the austerity measures championed by Sarkozy....
In Volos, locals have started to use their own barter-based currency, called TEM. It hasn't replaced the euro but lives alongside it, and local residents say they can't imagine how their economy would function without it....
Rasquera, population about 3,000, has a budget problem. Roughly $1.5 million in debt from run-of-the-mill infrastructure projects. Like most Spanish communities, the economic downturn and debt crisis has laid it low, but a new plan has emerged, grow marijuana, that could pay off its bills -- if it doesn't split the town in half first....
As Greece tries to recover from the bailouts, the failed economy and the austerity measures, a small group of protesters have gathered outside the European Central Bank in Germany to criticize the measures that bank has insisted on in order for Greece to access the bailout funds it needs....
Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House budget writing committee, is preparing to unveil his latest plan for government spending. Democrats are already criticizing it as an example of Republicans breaking the agreement the two parties reached last August....
